Revolving gas-engine.



G. HANIQUET.

REVOLVING GAS ENGINE. APPLIOATIOH IILED JULY 8,1909.

Patented July-26, 1910.

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G; H'A NIQUET. REVOLVING GAS ENGINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 8,1909.

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APPLICATION FILED JULY'B, 1909.

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. urmourou FILED JULY8,1909.

Patented July 26, 1910.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE HANIQUET, OF LONGBEACH, CALIFORNIA.

REVOLVING GAS-ENGINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE HANI UET, a citizen of the United States, residing at Longbeach, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Revolving Gas-Engine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to internal combustion engines, and has special reference to that type of rotary gas engines in whlch a plurality of cylinders revolve around a fixed crank shaft, and a piston in each cylinder is connected with the said crank shaft.

- The object of the invention is to provide an engine of the character stated in which the fuel will be compressed in one cylinder and then transferred to the companion cylinder.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rotary gas engine having a com- I pound cylinder and compound piston so disposed that a portion of each piston operates to pump the charge from one cylinder to the "companion working cylinder, and also as compressor in its own cylinder to compress the charge previous to ignition.

A further object of the invention is to provide certain improvements in the 0011- struction, combination and arrangement of parts, all of which will be hereinafter firstfully described and then particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which fully illustrate my invention, Figures 1 and 2 are elevations looking at different sides of the engine and omitting the supporting frame. Fig. 3 is a section taken centrally of the engine and longitudinally of the crank shaft. Fig. 4 is a sectional view, taken at right angles to Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detailed perspective view of a portion of the crank shaft and the piston connecting rods. Fig. 6 is a detailed section, taken on the line 66 of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the distributer.

In the drawings I have illustrated an engine having four cylinders, and in the said drawings 1 designates the crank casing to each of the four sides of which is bolted a cylinder 2. The cylinder is of the compound type, the inner portion 3 being the larger, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The outer I smaller portion of the cylinder is provided with external cooling ribs or flanges 4 of the usual type, and, if so desired, these flanges Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 8, 1909.

Patented July 26, 1910. Serial No. 506,521.

although the combustion takes place in the outer ends of the cylinders, and, consequently, there is no pressing necessity for the ribs on the inner ders. In each cylinder I provide an inlet port 5 which is located so as to coincide with the internal shoulder 6 formed between the large and small diameters of the cylinder and diametrically opposite the said inlet port I provide an escape port 7 which is connected by means of a pipe or tube 8 with a charging port 9 in the diametrically opposite or companion cylinder, and this charging port is diametrically opposite the ex haust port 10 which is slightly nearer the outer end of the cylinder than the charging port for a purpose which will presently ap pear. The piston 11 is also of the compound type and fits snugly within the cylinder, be ing provided with a shoulder 12 adapted to co-act with the shoulder 6 of the cylinder, as will be readily understood. The piston is connected wit-h the fixed crank shaft 13 by means of a connecting rod let which is provided at its outer end with a collar or sleeve 15 fitting around a pin 16 seated in bearings 17 on the inner side of the piston, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The inner end of the connecting rod is constructed with a segmental plate or off-set 18 which fits against the central portion of the crank shaft and has its outer surface slightly tapered toward its ends in order that the clamping rings 19 may bind the said connecting rods to the crank shaft firmly enough to hold the parts in their proper operative relation, and at the same time will not prevent the play necessary for the successful operation of the engine. This construction is most clearly shown in Fig. 5 and it will be observed by reference to the said figure that clamping bolts 20 are inserted through the rings 19 etween the adjacent connecting rods so that the rings will be prevented from slipping from the off-sets and will thereby hold the said off-sets against-the crank shaft, while at the same time a suflicient play for the smooth running of the engine is provided. The outer end of each piston is provided with a deflector 21 which serves to direct the incoming charge towardthe end of the cylinder so as to prevent the said charge passing directly to the exhaust and to insure the said charge passing to the compression or working end of the cylinder in which the may extend the full length of the cylinder, igniter 22 is provided. In order to provide portions of the cylin for the escape of the burned gases before the entrance of the fresh charge, the exhaust port 10 is located nearer the outer end of the cylinder than the charging port 9 so that upon the inner stroke of the piston, the sa d exhaust port will be uncovered slightly in advance of the charging port so as to permit the escape of the burned gases before the entrance of the fresh charge, as Wlll be understood.

Each pair of cylinders is connected by a pair of pipes 8 and is provided with the described arrangement of ports so that the cylinders will alternately act as working and feeding cylinders, it being understood that the fuel is fed from one cylinder to the other and ignited in that other cylinder on one stroke of the piston, while on the opposite stroke of the piston the fuel is drawn into the pumping end of the cylinder in which the explosion has just occurred and is driven from said cylinder into the companion cylinder and ignited in that companion cylinder. This operation will be readily understood upon reference to Fig. 1 in which the course of the gas is indicated on the several pipes 8 by arrows. In order to prevent leakage around the ends of the fuel conducting pipes 8, suitable packing is employed and to accommodate this packing, the cylinders may be provided with enlargements 23 around the ends of the pipes, as shown most clearly in Fig. 1.

Each inlet port 5 is normally closed by an inwardly opening valve 24 which is held normally against its seat by a spring 25 ar ranged around the stem of the valve between the valve seat and a nut or shoulder 26 on the valve stem so that the spring will normally hold the valve against its seat. Vhen the charge is to be drawn into the cylinder, the suction and the pressure of the inflowing gas will overcome the tension of the spring and open the valve so that the charge may pass through the inlet port 5 into the cylinder, as will be readily understood. From the port 5 the fuel passes into the annular space between the smaller piston and the larger cylinder, which is shown most clearly in the lower portion of Fig. 3, and on the return stroke of the piston, the shoulder 12 of the piston, co-acting with the shoulder 6 of the cylinder, will slightly compress the gas so as to drive the same through the escape port 7 into the conducting pipe 8 whence it enters the companion cylinder through the charging port 9 in advance of the piston in said cylinder which will then be in its retracted position, it being understood, of course, that the fuel will be compressed in the pipe 8 until the end of the piston which is approaching the inner end of its cylinder has uncovered the charging ort.

' The crank shaft 13 passes through hubs 27 bolted to and projecting from opposite sides of the crank case, and to reduce the frictional wear on the crank shaft, bearing sleeves 28 of Babbitt metal or similar material are interposed between the hub and the crank shaft. One end of the crank shaft terminateswithin its hub, as shown at the right side of Fig. 3, while the opposite end of the crank shaft projects beyond its hub and is secured to the supporting frame 29 in any desired manner, as will be readily understood. This projecting end of the crank shaft is formed with a central bore or passage 30 which communicates with the carbureter and is carried to the side of the shaft at its inner end, as indicated at 31, so as to lead into a drum 32 rotatably mounted on the crank shaft and secured to the end of the hub 27, as shown most clearly in Fig. 3. This drum 32 is provided with internal radial division plates 33 whereby it is divided into a number of compartments corresponding to the number of cylinders of the engine and each compartment communicates directly with the pipe 34 leading to the inlet port 5 of a cylinder. By referring to Figs. 3 and 6 it will be seen that as the hub 27 and the drum 32 attached thereto rotate around the crank shaft 13, the division plates 33 will be successively carried past the lateral branch 31 of the feeding passage or bore 30 so that the several compartments of the drum will be successively brought into communication with the feeding passage or bore and will receive the charge therefrom.

On the side of the engine opposite the feeding drum the hub carries a disk 35 which is preferably of metal, in order to obtain the requisite strength without excessive weight, and to the edge of the said disk I secure a ring 36 of insulating material and at equi-distant points around the said ring of insulating material and corresponding in number to the cylinders are a series of contact plates 37, each of which is connected by a conductor 38 with the igniter 22 with one cylinder. As the engine rotates, the several contacts 37 will be successively brought against a fixed contact 39 carried by the bracket 40 secured to the supporting frame 41 and insulated from the said bracket. This contact 39 is connected by a conductor 12 with a magneto generator or a battery so as to produce a high tension ignition in the usual manner. The generator forms no part of my present invention and as the same may be of any Well known type I have not illustrated the same in the drawings. A timer 43 will be employed and the said timer will be connected with the generator and the distributer by means of suitable conductors and is secured to a timer shaft 44. journaled in suitable fixed brackets 45 and connected by any convenient or preferred gearing with the driving shaft 4:6 which is secured to the end of one hub 27 by suitable stud bolts 47, as most clearly shown in Fig. 3.

In Fig. 3 I have shown the frame 41 as containing a fixed raceway 48 between which and a corresponding raceway 49 on the hub, friction balls 50 are seated soas to provide an easy running bearing for the engine. It

will be understood, however, that any desired form of bearing may be employed. At the left side of the said figure I have shown the hub and the feeding drum secured thereto as bearing directly against the crank shaft without the interposition of any friction device:

It is thought the operation of the engine will be readily understood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to Fig. 3, with the parts in the position illustrated the fuel will be passin into the lower cylinder and will be out o from the upper cylinder. The engine being given an initial rotation through any convenient starter the pistons will be caused to travel, with respect to the cylinders, so that the lower piston will approach the outer end of its cylinder, while the upper piston will approach the inner end of its cylinder. This movement will cause the fuel previously drawn into the larger end of the lower cylinder to be compressed against the shoulder 6 of the said cylinder and forced out into the pipe 8. As the opposite end of the pipe 8 is closed by the upper piston, the fuel will, of course, be compressed in the said pipe until the end of the upper piston has uncovered the end of the said pipe whereupon the fuel will pass into the outer port-ion of the upper cylinder sothat upon the return stroke of the piston it will be compressed in the end of the said cylinder and i nited so as to pro duce the explosion and cIz-ive the engine. At the same time, the inlet port 5 of the upper cylinder will be opened and fuel will pass into the said cylinder beyond the shoulder 6 of the same, and will continue to enter the said cylinder until the piston therein has reached the inner limit of its stroke. Upon the outer stroke of the said piston this charge of fuel will be compressed and forced into the pipe 8 and driven across to the companion cylinder, which was previously the feeding cylinder, and will enter the outer end of the same in the manner just described so that when the piston in said cylinder again approaches the outer end of the same, a compression, ignition and explosion will occur, as will be understood.

It will be readily seen that my invention is a rotary engine carrying, in the preferred form, 4 cylinders and operating on the two cycle principle with the cylinders successively performing the desired work, an explosion occurring at each quarter turn of the engine. The fuel is directed into the proper cylinder by reason of the feeding drum 32 passing around the feeding bore or passage of the crank shaft and consequently directing the incoming gases into the cylinders in succession.

It will be seen that each piston performs two functions during each stroke, the larger portion of the piston acting as a pump to drive fuel through the connecting pipe into the opposite cylinder, and the smaller portion of the same piston serving as a compressor to produce the necessary compression of the charge in its own cylinder so that when a spark is produced by the igniter, the explosion will occur and the engine be driven.

The parts are compactly arranged and are simply constructed so that the engine will possess great strength without undue weight,

and will develop high power so that it is especially adapted for use on automobiles or flying machines, but it is, of course, capable of use in other connections.

The construction and arrangement of the feeding drum and the crank shaft, in order to supply the fuel successively to the different cylinders, is such as to prevent the formation of a partial vacuiun in that section of the gas feeding and distributing drum which is in communication with the cylinder receiving the charge so that the cylinder will receive a full charge and an effective driving of the engine will be assured. By employing compound cylinders and compound pistons I draw the fresh, cold gases into each cylinder and then transfer this fresh, cold gas to the working end of the companion cylinder so that the heating of the cylinders is reduced to a minimum, and the mixing of the gas and air prior to the explosion is accomplished more thoroughly than has heretofore been possible.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A rotary two cycle gas engine comprising a fixed crank shaft having a feeding bore in one end, a plurality of compound cylinders mounted to rotate around said crank shaft and each provided with diametrically opposite ports in both its diameters, pistons in said cylinders connected with the crank shaft, conduits forming an independent connection between each cylinder and the feeding bore, and a series of independent conduits connecting the alternate cylinders and leading from the larger diameter of one cylinder to the smaller diameter of the companion cylinder.

2. A. rotary two cycle gas engine comprising a fixed crank shaft having a feeding bore in one end, a plurality of compound cylinders mounted to rotate around said crank shaft, a compound piston in each cylinder connected to the crank shaft by means of a connecting rod, the combination with the fixed crank shaft having a feeding bore in one end, a drum mounted to rotate around said crank shaft and having a plurality of compartments corresponding in number to the cylinders and adapted to successively communicate with the feeding bore in the crank shaft, tubes connecting the said drum with the inlet valves, said inlet valves connected with the inlet ports of the cylinders.

3. A rotary two cycle gas engine, the combination with the fixed crank shaft and compound cylinders mounted to rotate upon the same, of compound pistons in the cylinders, connecting rods pivotally connected to the pistons and provided at their inner ends with tapered segmental oif-sets adapted to bear against the crank shaft, clamping rings fitting around the said off-sets and the crank shaft, and securing boltsinserted through the clamping rings and between the connecting rods.

at. A rotary two cycle gas engine comprising a fixed crank shaft, a plurality of compound cylinders mounted to rotate around the crank shaft, pistons in said cylinders connected with the crank shaft, and a series of tubes connecting the alternate cylinders and leading from the larger diameter of one cylinder to the smaller diameter of the companion cylinder, each tube having its intermediate portion arranged between the ends of the adjacent tubes.

5. The combination of a su portin frame, a crank shaft having one en secure in said frame, a rotary frame having central hubs mounted on the ends of the crank shaft, one of said hubs being journaled in and proj ecting through the supporting frame, and a power shaft abutting against and secured to the end of said hub.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE HANIQUET. lVithesses CHARLES D. ALLEN, VICTOR HAYES. 

